Paramount School of Excellence
Accepting applications

There is a new charter school starting on the Near East Side. The Paramount School of Excellence is located at 3020 Nowland Avenue. The school is accepting applications now for the school year starting August 16th. The official Ribbon Cutting is Sat, Sept 18th 1-3pm

The school is K-8th grade.


About Charter Schools
Charter schools are public schools in that they receive public funding, but are subject to fewer regulations. They were recently introduced as an alternative to public schools and as a way to introduce some level of choice and competition into public education. These schools are encouraged to utilize different teaching methods and therefore a given school may not be a good fit for every family.

Charter schools must be open to all students and may not have competitive admission policies. When there are more applicants than positions, the school must implement a lottery for the positions. Usually they give priority to continuing students and siblings of those students so that all of the children from a family can attend the same school. Since these are public schools, there is no tuition.

Students from Emerson Heights may attend any charter school; however, since transportation is typically not provided, nearby schools have been highlighted. Carpooling with a neighbor is a potential way of reducing the transportation burden.

This school is a community asset. We look forward to it joining the many schools with a track record of academic performance that serve Emerson Heights. Click here for a list of other schools.

ISO special offer to the near eastside

The Near Eastside can enjoy the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra at a discount with the following:
• $10 tickets to any Lilly Classical Series concert
• $10 tickets to any NEW! Symphonic Hits Power by Lilly Concert
• $10 tickets to any Sunday evening Printing Partner Pops Series Concert
• $8 tickets to any St. Vincent Family Series concert

Simply call the Hilbert Circle Theatre Box office at 639-4300 or contact Jeff Johnson and mention Promo Code 7643. Check http://www.IndianapolisSymphony.org for concert information.

See our list of homes for sale in the neighborhood.

Browse the homes for sale in Emerson Heights, including photos and interior tours.
Single Homes Listed for Sale in Emerson Heights

Or consider purchasing a duplex and living on one side and renting the other:
Duplexes Listed For Sale in Emerson Heights

For more information about the neighborhood, see our Neighborhood Profile.



Updated 6/18/10

State program offers rebates for new furnaces and A/C.

The State announced its program for rebates on energy heating and cooling systems today. The Indiana Heating and Air-Conditioning Incentive Program (IHIP) is Indiana’s State Energy-Efficient Appliance Rebate Program, approved by the U.S. Department of Energy to provide Hoosier homeowners with rebates for the purchase of ENERGY STAR® qualified heating and cooling systems.

The program offers $300 rebates on gas furnaces that have a 92% AFUE rating, for example.

This program can be combined with rebates from Citizen's Gas as well as the 30% federal energy tax credit.


Many of the homes in Emerson Heights still have older gas furnaces that are only 60% efficient rather than the 92-95% efficient that are common today. As much as 40 cents of every heating dollar is wasted with these older systems. Besides being inefficient, any furnace with a pilot light is at least 30 years old, at the end of its useful life and hurts the resale value of the home.

Both the state and federal program are stimulus funds and therefore are for a limited time. Be sure to understand the equipment requirements as well as the other limitations of these programs.

For energy saving tips, see "Emerson Heights, A Green Neighborhood"

The Emerson Heights neighborhood was listed on the National Register of Historic Places 3/31/2010.

Emerson Heights Community Organization is proud to announce that the neighborhood was formally listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The neighborhood has taken this step because being on the National Register of Historic Places is a rigorous process that clearly demonstrates that the neighborhood is historically significant. It’s our hope that it encourages both current residents and future residents to preserve the historic fabric of the neighborhood.

National Register status makes tax credits available to owners of contributing properties and makes it easier to market the neighborhood to people who want to invest in a historic community. In addition, the research and documentation that went into the nomination will help to preserve and interpret our neighborhood for the future.

Connie Ziegler of C Resources, Indianapolis, was hired to research, document and write the application. Funding for the nomination was provided by the Indianapolis Foundation, Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana and neighborhood residents. A big "Thank You" to each of them.

The complete nomination application is very thorough, provides an excellent reference document and shows which structures are contributing and non-contributing.

The listing is as follows:

INDIANA, MARION COUNTY,
Emerson Heights Historic District,
Roughly bounded by Emerson Ave., Linwood Ave., E. 10th and E. Michigan Sts., Indianapolis, 10000125, LISTED, 3/31/10 (Historic Residential Suburbs in the United States, 1830-1960 MPS)

Steer-In voted best Breakfast Place!





Two neighborhood businesses maked the "Best of Indy" list. The Steer In (Best breakfast place) and Si Greene's Pub (Best Irish Bar).

See historic photos of the Steer In

Also, several other Eastside establishments are on the list including Jockamo's (Best Pizza), El Sol (best Mexican Restaurant ) the Golden Ace (Best Irish Bar), Papa Roux (Best Cheap Eats), Snips (Best Hair Salon) and Indy Cycle Specialist "Best Bike Shop"


We are proud to make the list - Be sure to visit these establishments and congratulate them!

Opening Spring 2010. The store will be located at 2828 East 10th Street.



With a goal of providing affordable, healthy food options to the community, Indy Food Cooperative, Inc. announces its first non-profit, community-owned grocery store will open at 2828 East 10th Street in Spring 2010 as Pogue's Run Grocer.

"Pogue's Run Grocer seeks to improve the quality of life in Indianapolis by providing the community with access to good food, while supporting the local economy instead of national grocery chains," said Kyle Hendrix, president of Indy Food Cooperative.

"Nearly 200 households representing residents all across Indianapolis have joined as members of the cooperative, but putting Indy's only non-profit, storefront grocery store in an underserved area of the city meets an important mission of our group," continued Hendrix,

This week, Indy Food Cooperative announces the signing of a lease for a building that has sat empty along a blighted section of East 10th Street for five years, the former Lane TV building. Volunteers of the cooperative will begin demolishing the interior walls on August 8 in preparation for the transformation of the space into a grocery store.

"Finding an adaptive reuse for this property will preserve and improve another building as well as provide jobs and a living wage -- a touchdown for the community and a great start to the 2012 Super Bowl Legacy project goal to revitalize the 10th Street Corridor during the next three years," said Patrick Dooley, co-chair of the 2012 Super Bowl Legacy's committee for economic development along the corridor.

Over the next three months, the 70 year old building near the intersection of 10th and Rural Streets will be renovated into a 3,000 square foot full-line grocery store. Shelves will be lined with fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy, meats, poultry, personal care items and more. Members receive discounts on their purchases and other benefits, but the store will be open to the general public.

"Building a strong neighborhood relies upon people working together and the Indy Food Co-op's investment in this community demonstrates the positive impact neighbors can make. The Food Co-op will bring fresh food back into our neighborhood -- making it available to residents that do not have access to a grocery store," continued Dooley.

"The location offers a central location and is conveniently accessible by car, bike, bus or foot," added Hendrix. "Pogue's Run Grocer will be a true community marketplace to benefit those who care about health, and who believe that good food should be affordable and accessible to all."

Indy Food Co-op is currently looking for additional members before the store opens. Please take this opportunity to join.

Indy Food Co-op

Use the Emerson Heights promotional material to help "sell the neighborhood" along with the house.

Place some of our fliers on the kitchen counter or with the Fact Sheet for the house. Also give one to your Realtor so that they know some of the selling points of the neighborhood.

You may either print these from the PDF file or you may request color printed versions from webmaster@emersonheights.org




Download "A Neighborhood You Can Both Love"





Download "Minutes to the Theater"


Neighborhood brochure:

This attractive brochure lets prospective buyers know about the good things that are happening in the neighborhood and why a home in Emerson Heights is a good investment. It prints on legal size paper in landscape format.

Download Emerson Heights brochure

Be patient, this is a large file (22 meg).


You will need acrobat reader.

We can't do it without your support.

This is Your Organization
Emerson Heights Community Organization is made up of neighborhood residents volunteering to preserve the historic, cultural and economic value of our community. In addition to volunteers, EHCO needs the financial support of its residents to operate.

What We Do Costs Money
Although we try to keep our expenses low, there are day-to-day operating expenses for the newsletter, the website, post office box, answering service, insurance, etc.

In addition, special projects require some investment as well. For example: We are very grateful for the pro-bono legal help in closing Dream Weaver’s, but we did have some expenses. The National Register nomination was largely funded by generous grants; however, EHCO is still required to match those grants. EHCO also buys the food after the neighborhood cleanups and makes up the shortfall in donations for the Christmas party. In the past, most of these expenses have been paid for by individual members and/or members of the Executive Committee.



We are Asking Each Household for an Annual Donation
Rather than a few people shouldering the financial burden for the entire neighborhood, we are asking each household to show its support for EHCO by donating $12 per year. We realize not every household will be able to participate – but we would like as many households as possible to contribute. Some people are willing and able to do more and we appreciate that.

We Want to Make It Easy to Contribute
Making your donation is easy – you can mail a check or use a credit card online. See our donation page for details.

Supporters will be listed on the website and in our newsletter unless they wish to remain anonymous.